


And you give the youth love beyond compare

by tommyshepherdd (atimeforflores)



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Poverty, Sign Language, autistic child, single mom wanda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-04-16 05:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14157420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atimeforflores/pseuds/tommyshepherdd
Summary: Single Mom Wanda Maximoff has been hurt before. Cut off from her family by her ex husband, she is all alone in the world. With 8 kids all by herself, she finds ways to make ends meet. Yet she discovers she may not have to do it alone.





	1. Chapter 1

Wanda shivered in her little apartment, clutching one hand to her growing abdomen. The two bedroom was already too small for her and the 7 kids, but adding an 8th would truly be pushing it. Malachi and Tobias were sweet boys were did their very best to try to help their mother- picking up jobs delivering newspapers (a dying line of work), bussing tables at local diners, and finding work anywhere they could. Kya and Daiea were still too young to work but they tried their hardest; finding jobs babysitting, pet sitting, cleaning. The oldest four still remembered living with their father in his large yet lonely home. It always seemed colder than the poorly insulated apartment they now resided in. Talia was still too young, still learning how to write and read to help out more than picking up her own toys. Tommy and Billy were just learning how open the front door, causing Wanda more stress than she needed. The toddlers never ran out of energy, no matter how many times their older siblings ran them around the cramped living room. They and the next baby, who she already named Tyler, were from Victor. Well, the second Victor. He had swept Wanda off her feet but left with the announcement of her second pregnancy. Apparently he already had a wife and two kids. 

 

“Mom?” Malachi stood in her doorway, holding a quietly snuffling Billy. Her oldest set of twins were 15, from her first and only marriage. Victor von Doom had been a gentleman to begin with. At 18, she had thought she loved him. Then after moving into his remote mansion she had been cut off from her friends and family. She filed for a divorce shortly after she realized she was pregnant with Kya and Daiea but hadn’t been able to get away until they were 3 and the boys were 6. 

 

“Come in, baby.” She called to him, reaching out her free hand. Tyler kicked at her voice, letting her know he was still wide awake. 

 

Billy launched himself from Malachi’s arms into Wanda’s, burying his face into her neck. As she got further along into the pregnancy, she had less and less time to play with her youngest set of twins. She had been extremely happy when she learned that this pregnancy was a single baby, not that she’d give up any of her twins. 

 

“We’re out of milk.” Malachi told her, sitting on the edge of her mattress. For her first birthday after Victor left, they had found her an old bed frame at a consignment shop and set it up for her. It did wonders for her back. 

 

“And Billy and Tommy won’t sleep without any?” She guessed, pushing herself up. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was only 10 pm. 

 

Malachi nodded, giving her the same dimples that his father gave her when they first met. He and Tobias were so much better than Victor von Doom could ever dream to become, however. 

 

“I’ll hold down the fort.” He held his pinky finger out to her, something they had done since before he could talk. It was a promise, and they’d both keep it. 

 

Billy whined as he was transferred back to his older brother’s grip, but quieted as Malachi laid down in Wanda’s bed. She usually woke to at least four kids in her bed, but had gotten used to it over the years. The warmth from extra bodies never hurt. 

 

Wanda was sure she had more maternity clothes than those that were not. Maternity clothes were comfier either way. At 6 months she wasn’t the largest she had ever been (Kya and Daiea took that record as they both came out at 8 lbs) but she was showing far more than she preferred to while out alone in public. She was not going to drag anyone else out of bed, however. 

 

A pair of jeans, a baggy t shirt, and a cardigan would have to do it. The corner store that they frequented was less than half a block away. The owner always gave the kids free popsicles during the summer. 

 

“Hello, Miss Wanda!” He greeted her as she stepped into the store. The little bell above the door alerted him to her arrival, and he smiled as soon as he saw her. He was an older Indian man, who had been kind to Wanda when she had moved into the neighborhood 8 years prior. He had even driven her to the hospital when she was in labor with Talia. And had his daughters watch the older kids. 

 

“Evening, Mr Acharya.” She called back, nodding her head in acknowledgement. He had teared up when she asked him to be Tommy and Billy’s godfather. The youngest twins loved him. 

 

The store was practically deserted, with just Wanda herself in the dairy isle, though she had passed a group of three- a pretty red haired woman, a guy covered in bandages, and one with one arm and a man bun -along with two men that gave her the creeps. She cradled her stomach, feeling the comforting movements of Tyler kicking. He was probably her most active pregnancy to date. 

 

She grabbed the full gallon, as her kids went through it faster than she thought possible. Even Pietro took two days finish one off when they were kids. She stopped to grab a box of poptarts, trying to face her protruding stomach away from the two guys watching her. She could feel their eyes on her skin, causing her to want to run from the store. 

 

She had 7 dollars to Mr Acharya, slipping the cents she got back as change into her small purse. All she carried with her was her ID, some cash, and her house keys. 

 

She was out of the door when she felt a hand grab her by the arm, pulling her towards a dark car. She prepared to scream when she realized that the hand holding her belonged to the woman she had seen in the store. 

 

“Sorry I scared you.” The woman said in a quiet voice, “I saw those creeps staring at you and wanted to offer you a ride home.”

 

The two guys that had been with the redhead in the store waved to them from the car parked in front. Wanda breathed deeply, trying to slow her own rapid heart rate. 

 

Every self defense course she had taken had told her not to trust strangers, but her feet were killing her and this stranger was gorgeous. So she got in the car.

 

…

 

Natasha, she introduced herself as, apparently lived in a shared condo with four of her friends and their kids. But that was New York for you. James and Clint were the two who had been at the corner store with her. They had one daughter, Kate, and a younger son, Francis. Kate apparently was 13, and Francis was 7. Her other two friends were Steve and Sam. They also had kids, two boys named James and Ian. James was 8 and Ian was 4. Apparently, Natasha told her proudly, Natasha was James’ surrogate. When he was born, they realized that any other pregnancy could have killed her, so they tied her tubes. 

 

Wanda wasn’t sure why the other woman was sharing so much information on the less than one minute drive. Traffic in New York, however, was always busy. The enclosed space of the car felt much safer than the streets, though. 

 

When Natasha finally pulled alongside Wanda’s apartment complex, and even paid a quarter for two hours of parking, Wanda was relieved. When Natasha picked up her grocery bags and gestured for Wanda to lead the way, she was somewhat embarrassed. She didn’t want to show the beautiful woman with her beautiful new car the state she and her children had been forced to live in. Wanda didn’t even think that Jessica Jones from down the hall had even fixed her broken door yet. Maybe Malachi and Tobias would be able to do it for her and get some extra money for them that month. Wanda immediately felt guilty for that thought. 

 

When Wanda only had four children and reeling from her violent divorce, the cheap two bedroom had seemed like a Godsend. In the present, it felt like a prison. She had cut contact from her Father and siblings during her marriage, and hadn’t figured out how to re-establish it. 

 

Talia was sitting up on the couch when they got in, with Billy and Tommy on either side of her. She had obviously woken Kya up to braid her hair, as Kya was the only one who seemed to be able to understand her sister’s curls. Daiea was passed out face down in the couch, the youngest three sitting on her. Wanda swore that girl could sleep through anything. 

 

Tobias and Malachi were in the kitchen, so Wanda followed the sound of loud pop music and the scent of something burning. Thankfully, it was the normal stove smell and not wasted food. 

 

“The brats wanted Mac and Cheese.” Malachi told her as a greeting. Tobias came towards her as silent as ever, patting her stomach three times. It was his way of expressing his affection as he didn’t like to touch or make eye contact. He signed his excitement at her, the usual  _ Mac and Cheese! _ signs until he noticed Natasha behind Wanda. Tobias disappeared further into the apartment and Wanda cursed at herself. She knew he didn’t like strangers, and had thoughtlessly brought one home. Straight into his sanctuary. 

 

“Full house.” Natasha commented. It immediately made Wanda become defensive. 

 

“Thank you for your help.” Wanda told the other woman, arms wrapping around her own midsection, “But it’s getting late, and the kids have school tomorrow.”

  
Tobias came back out when the food was ready, eyes anxiously searching for the stranger. Wanda apologized again and again to him, and at the end of the night, just as she was about to fall asleep, she felt him pat her arm three time.  _ I. Love. You. _


	2. Chapter 2

Jessica Jones was quite impressed by the fact that Tobias and Malachi were able to patch up her door in less than an hour in the morning. She only ever used the run down apartment for her business since moving in with her boyfriend and then getting married and having a kid with him. She also seemed quite impressed by Wanda being able to handle her own seven kids without running screaming. 

 

That was how Wanda was making 50$ a day just to watch little Danielle Cage. She was younger than Billy and Tommy by almost a year, making her just old enough to get into things but not quite old enough to talk. 

 

Kurt had stopped by before breakfast to pick up Talia for the weekend. Kurt was the only ex she actually enjoyed being around, though they would never make it as a couple. He had brought bags upon bags of groceries, as he usually did when he came to pick up Talia. She tried to discourage him the first few times but the supplies truly helped out. 

 

“Ve’ll be back on Monday.” Kurt promised, as always. Kurt was also the only one of her exes who would actively try to visit his child. 

 

The kitchen was pretty much permanently child proof so Wanda had no qualms of letting Billy, Tommy, and Danielle, wander around it while she rested in the morning. She had spent the first half of the morning tidying up the small apartment before stopping to rest. Tyler seemed to sit lower than her past pregnancies, and it made the later stages much more uncomfortable. 

 

After lunch the three youngest went down easily into their naps, leaving Wanda to finish the cleaning before her oldest four would return from school. She was just finishing up scrubbing the counter tops when she heard a soft knock come from the front door. 

 

To her utmost surprise, Jessica Jones was on the other side of the door, 5 hours early. Wanda was guilty to note that her first concern is whether her pay would be cut for the day. 

 

“Hey, Jessica, you’re early.” She said nervously, shifting from foot to foot to try to find a comfortable position. It was pretty much hopeless however, so she made due with leaning heavily on the doorframe. She briefly wondered if Jess had found more suitable childcare and was going to go back on her and Wanda’s deal. 

 

“Hey,” Jess smiled at her, tired and happy all at once. She was drastically different from the young woman full of anger that Wanda had met almost a decade previously. “Here on case business, so don’t worry.”

 

Wanda scrunched her nose in confusion. There wasn’t a lot of people who would go out of their way looking for her- Victor von Doom had had her sign a nondisclosure agreement with the divorce and hadn’t bothered her since. Victor Vision had fled as soon as he found out that she was pregnant again, and she was fairly certain he did not want his wife and other kids to know about her. 

 

“I don’t know what sort of info I might be able to give you.” Wanda answered, still confused. She invited Jess to the living room, going to the kitchen to look for leftover tea packets. There was only one left so Wanda made that one for Jess and just filled her own glass with water. 

 

If there was one thing that made being surrounded by a bunch of other kids actually helpful, it was that Billy and Tommy could sleep through anything. Danielle was also a champion sleeper, according to Jess.

 

It was lucky that they all were good sleepers when Wanda broke down into tears after Jess told her that her brother, Pietro, and sister, Lorna, were looking for her and trying to reestablish contact. 

 

…

 

Jessica established a meeting for them the following weekend. Wanda was more than a little excited to see her siblings after so many years. She had broken things off with them on pretty bad terms and had figured she’d never be able to fix it. 

 

The plan was to meet in the nearby park and then go to one of the mom and pop diners nearby. Wanda had scraped together some money that was supposed to go to new clothes after the baby was born. She decided she could do without, however, if it meant seeing her family again. 

 

The morning was crisp, so Wanda made sure to dress the kids accordingly. Tobias and Malachi were the easiest to dress, but Kya and Daiea were getting to the stage where their outfits truly mattered to them. They feared someone they knew from school would see them out. Talia was by far the easiest child to dress, and Billy and Tommy were both firmly against wearing anything other than their pull ups. 

 

By five minutes after ten they were out the door, with Kya and Daiea each pushing a stroller, and Talia clinging to Wanda’s hand. Tobias and Malachi were trailing behind all of them, making sure that none of the younger kids were falling behind. The park was only three blocks from Wanda’s apartment, but with three toddlers and four teens, it took almost fifteen minutes to get there.

 

Jessica was already there, sitting in between Lorna and Pietro. Wanda had watched Danielle for quite a few of Jessica’s family reunions. It seemed almost natural for her to return the favor.  

 

Wanda walked up behind the group quietly, all of her children staying silent. They were abnormally good at sensing her mood. Wanda watched as her siblings eyes tracked the children surrounding her. Surprisingly, when Lorna stood to hug her it looked like she was just as, if not more, pregnant. 

 

Lorna wrapped her thin arms around Wanda and pulled her into a warm embrace. Wanda felt her eyes begin to tear up. Pietro, ever the observant, cut into the touching moment with a confused, “Are you running a daycare?”

 

Wanda laughed, brushing away her own tears, “No, they’re all mine.”

 

Wanda let Lorna go, a tinkering laugh as Lorna’s stomach kicked at her own. She reached for Pietro, preceding to pull him up and into a hug. 

 

“Even-?” Pietro cut himself off, though Wanda saw who he was staring at. Talia had inherited her father’s dark brown skin, who had inherited from it from his mother who was born in India. Wanda had met Raven a handful of times, but Kurt wasn’t especially close with her. Alongside Wanda’s dark curls, Talia was mistaken for other races quite a bit. 

 

“Yes Pietro, that is your niece, Talia.” Wanda answered hugging her brother extra hard to hear him groan and his back crack. 

 

“Nice to meet you!” Talia forced herself forward, ever the social butterfly. From there Wanda introduced the rest of the kids. Tobias hid behind his mother, only extending his wrist for a bracelet that Lorna took for her own wrist to give him when she saw him eyeing the way it jingled and how it moved. Wanda was sure that Lorna would be his favorite for a long time to come. 

 

…

 

For once, the kids seemed to be tired out after their day at the park. Pietro ran around with the toddlers until the little ones began to drag. The four oldest were all enraptured with Lorna, the girls especially being enthralled with her green hair and badass personality.

 

They both offered to walk her home, but she wasn’t quite ready to reveal just how far she had fallen. 

 

The groceries Kurt had brought by the week beforehand had dwindled quickly. He’d be by with more the following week but until then, Wanda would be on her own.  

 

She was contemplating whether to try to throw together another pasta dish or if she could heat up some frozen chili when there was a knock at the front door. Wanda shuffled as fast as she was able to at seven months pregnant, narrowly avoiding running over her two youngest. It was always a race for the door as youngest two loved opening it. She never had a chance at pretending she wasn’t there. 

 

“Hey!” Nat greeted her as she opened the door. She was holding several take out bags from a nearby restaurant, “I was in the neighborhood and was wondering if I could apologize for the other night. I’m sure I came off as a bit rude.” 

 

Wanda felt extremely exposed standing in the doorway of the apartment in just her nightgown and robe, so she invited the other woman inside. She wanted to turn the other woman away, but both she and her children were hungry. Just on time, she heard the hungry wail of a toddler from the other room. 

 

“I brought food.” Nat said, bringing the bags up for Wanda to see. Her mouth watered at just the sheer amount that seemed to be in them.

 

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She caved, gesturing for the other woman to follow her into the living room, “We’re all in here.”

 

Kya immediately jumped on Nat and asked her questions about her “pretty, red hair”, while Tobias stared at her distrustingly. Obviously he remembered their last encounter and wasn’t too happy. 

 

It was a surprisingly tranquil night, and Nat seemed to fit right in. She braided Talia’s hair in an intricate braid that they had never seen before, along with playing with Tommy and Billy. Wanda was surprised to see that Billy had even laid his head on her shoulder, dozing. It was then that she realized how late it had gotten. 

 

“Leave him.” Nat whispered, as Wanda struggled to get up to take the boys to bed. Tobias and Malachi had already retired, but the rest wanted to stay with their mother and her guest. 

 

“If you’re sure.” Wanda said uncertainly, relaxing back into the couch. 

 

“I am.” Nat promised. “I used to have a daughter around his age. Rose.”

 

“I thought you only gave birth to James, and that was when they found out about your fertility issues.” Wanda answered, thinking back to their previous conversation. 

 

“James was my only c-section.” She responded, looking lost in her own memories, “When I was much younger and still living in Russia, I had Rose. I didn’t have enough money at the time to immigrate to America, and not even close to enough money to help her after she got sick.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Wanda leaned forward, putting her hand on Nat’s knee in a show of support. 

 

“The years numb the pain.” Nat gave her a sad smile. “Well, I really should retire for the night. Much longer and the boys will come looking for me.”

 

Wanda walked her to the door, leading her by the elbow, “I do appreciate you stopping by. It was nice to have some company over the age of 18, you’ll have to stop by again.”

 

“I’d like that.” Nat answered, tucking one of Wanda’s curls behind her ear. For a moment, Wanda yearned for something more. “I’d really like that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya know who it is. 
> 
> comments make me write more. 
> 
> seriously though, please look into donating to my Ko-Fi either to commission a piece of work, or just because you like what i'm doing. I'm having a bit of a tough time lately, and am looking to move out of my parents house but i have four pets and a bunch of medical debt. anything truly does help. All info can be found on my tumblr
> 
> my tumblr is gaysupersoldiers
> 
> love yall

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is my first time writing Natasha (obviously) but i love me some Mama Wanda. 
> 
> I am not autistic, so please tell me if I am portraying Tobias's character wrongly. 
> 
> Comments make me write more. 
> 
> My tumblr is gaysupersoldiers.tumblr.com


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